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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/28967457">The Janitor: Escape from Arkham</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/Emmaihatethisnamesystem/pseuds/Emmaihatethisnamesystem'>Emmaihatethisnamesystem</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Batman (Comics), Batman - All Media Types, Batman: Arkham (Video Games)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Alice in Wonderland meets Little Nightmares type of thing, Big brain MC, Gen, MC without a name, Survival Horror, There is a Batman adventure somewhere but she wants none of that</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>In-Progress</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2021-01-24</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2021-05-11</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-13 07:14:40</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Teen And Up Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>4</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>14,352</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/28967457</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/Emmaihatethisnamesystem/pseuds/Emmaihatethisnamesystem</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>A classic 'the bad guys have broken out and are taking over' situation. The asylum's employees have evacuated safely and the whole place is now on lockdown. But no one cares for the janitor, who now *really* hates her job.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>MC/life</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>17</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>1. Lockdown</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Inside Arkham Asylum, if you don't have a watch on you, you could never tell what time it is. It's always so dark in here. She'd look at her watch so often, her biological clock took that into consideration and after years of working here, she picked up this little quirk of looking at the time exactly every five minutes. Damn was it annoying, having to see that only a few minutes have passed and she still had long hours to spent in this place.</p><p>Because she didn't like her job, quite obvious if you'd ask literally anyone. Janitor at Arkham Asylum? Lord have mercy. The worth job at the worth place. She would take every opportunity to rant about it to her understanding friends. But hey, in this day, age and place, you take what you can get.</p><p>The one thing she got out of this (besides her payment, which honestly wasn't much to be desired), was a certain self-pride: as far as she knew, being near supervillains on the daily hasn't affected her. That was because no one paid attention to her, no one ever pays attention to the janitor, appart from her superior who ordered her around.</p><p>After five minutes, she looked at the time again. A smiled formed on her face when she saw that only half-an-hour of her shift remained, after that she could finally go back to her apartment and get some much needed rest. She began scrubbing the floor of the deserted hallway with more enthusiasm.</p><p> </p><p>Suddenly, a loud alarm rang in her ears, she gasped and looked up. Red lights lit up the whole hallway as a voice yelled through the speakers.</p><p>"Alert! Alert! They've taken over! Everybody run to the nearest exit in five minutes before lockdown! I repeat!..."</p><p>Her legs began to shake. She was lucky enough to not have gone through this, until now. The man from the speaker didn't have to explain further: this was another 'bad guys have gone wild' situation. She dropped the broom she was holding and went to press her back on the nearest wall, sliding down on the freshly cleaned floor.</p><p>"Those assholes." she said to herself, frowning.</p><p>She wasn't referring to the supervillains however. Arkham Asylum is a massively big place, the only people who could get out of here in five minutes are the doctors (whose workplace are closest to the exits) and the security guards (who have the stamina to run that fast). But the janitors? No way they could get out of here, not when they're in the middle of the place, like she was at that moment.</p><p>And she knew that the people outside won't risk going in. She knew the whole mentality behind this lockdown protocol: "until Batman shows up and fixes everything for us, nobody goes in and nobody goes out." She knew they won't be looking for her or the unlucky few who weren't able to walk out in time, because they don't care. If they're killed they may call it 'casualties', write a half-assed apology letter and send it to their families along with some flowers. She shook her head thinking about it.</p><p>'No. You know what? Fuck that!'</p><p> </p><p>She slowly stood back up. Staying here would just mean she'd be waiting to get herself killed by some lunatic. If no one will come save her, she'll just get out of here herself. She was still shaking, but she now had a little determined spark in her eyes.</p><p>She began walking but stopped after only a few steps and turned back. She kicked her bucket and knocked over a plant. She figured the inmates were already making a mess of the place, so a clean hallway would be out of the ordinary and they could figure out the janitor was here. Low chances, but you're never too sure with these guys.</p><p>She walked up to the doors at the end of the hallway and looked out the little windows. Inmates running around wrecking havoc while laughing and cheering. The fact that her hunch was correct surprised her. But she soon panicked and stepped back when a group of inmates approached her hallway. She didn't waste any time and rushed towards a little closet, emptied its content and locked herself inside, covering her mouth with her hands. She was in complete darkness with only a single thin stripe of light right in front of her.</p><p> </p><p>She heard the doors open with a big slam. She heard voices:</p><p>"Man this party's awesome!"</p><p>"Yeah! This time we're goin' all out!"</p><p>"Who caused the outbreak anyway?"</p><p>"Who cares?! Let's just have fun!"</p><p>There was a pause. Silhouettes passed in front of her.</p><p>"Someone's already been here it seems."</p><p>"Right..." one of them stopped right in front of the closet. "and they did a terrible job!"</p><p>Just as they said that, the closet was knocked over and she protected her head just in time as she fell face first unto the ground. Miraculously, the closet was still intact but she didn't dare to move. </p><p>"*This* is how you make a mess!" she heard, along with laughters.</p><p>She felt the closet's back side pressing on her back. Did one of the inmates sat on it? She slowly exhale, then stopped breathing all together, she felt the back side balancing loosely on her back. Her heart sunk. The closet *did* break. And now her body was keeping the entire structure together like a cheap costume.</p><p>She tried to calm down. They didn't notice her, all she had to do now was not move an inch until they go away. And that was a problem on its own. The laughters soon faded away, but that didn't necessarily mean that they were gone, at least not all of them. The silence was unbearable, and her heartbeat sounded so loud to her that she was scared they could hear it. She shut her eyes, she felt her throat burning, begging to get some air going. When she heard something crashing in the distance, she decided to make a run for it and hopefully she'll catch them off guard and will be able to outrun them. She stood up, the closet crumbling down. She grabbed its back-side and widely swung it before it flew out of her grasp and crashed on a wall.</p><p> </p><p>There was no one here. </p><p>"Ow fuck." she exhaled with a voice full of relief and hunched over with a hand on her heart, panting.</p><p>She quickly caught her breath and looked towards both sides of the hallway before going back to the doors. One of them has been knocked off its hinge, so she hid behind the second one and looked through its little broken window. Things seem to have calmed down (well, at least it was better than before). The furniture were piled up, some were set on fire. There was only a small group, laughing as they sat around a knocked over vending machine and ate or drink its content. She looked around the room, there were a few doors, but there was only one she could get to without being seen by hiding behind the piles of furniture.</p><p>She gulped. Those guys won't move, she'll have to be careful on this one.</p><p> </p><p>Crouching, she slowly and carefully made her way towards the nearest pile. She looked back-and-forth between the group and the floor. She knew of the classic 'don't walk on the cracks' things, and right now, some of the tiles were smashed into pieces. So yes, not stepping on them would be great if she wanted to not make a sound. As she approached the men, she heard their conversation. </p><p>"Did you see his face?! It was awesome!"</p><p>"Bro he had it coming for challenging me!" she heard laughter.</p><p>She sighed through her nose and kept going. She'd regularly paused to check on them and the distance remaining between her and the door. Despite coming here everyday, this room seemed bigger than ever. She stopped when she realized that this was her last possible hiding spot to get to the next room, but there was still a certain distance to walk through. If she wanted to get to the door, she'll have to risk being out in plain sight for a few seconds. Which she imagined was plenty of time to get killed. She chewed on her bottom lip, thinking of a way to secure her safety.</p><p> </p><p>Just then, a can was thrown towards the pile she was hiding behind, hitting the wall and falling right beside her. Has she been spotted? No, she was certain she hasn't made a sound, and the can was empty, one of the man must've tossed it after finishing it. It gave her an idea and she reached for it.</p><p>'No, wait.' she stopped herself. 'If I throw the can, they could recognize it and trace it back to my spot.'</p><p>She quickly looked around and picked up a little piece of broken tile. She turned around and straightened herself a little bit. The men were still talking. She waited for them to be a bit more quiet, then threw it towards the hallway she came from before quickly crouching down again.</p><p>"You heard that?"</p><p>"Yeah, so what?"</p><p>"That sounded too quiet compared to the usual chaos... Maybe a staff member is sneaking around."</p><p>"Bro no way, they either got out of there, or we got 'em."</p><p>"You mean *they* got 'em."</p><p>"Shut up and go check it out, since you're so worried~." he mocked him.</p><p>There was a huff and the sound of someone walking. She frowned, one wasn't nearly enough. She chewed on her lip again.</p><p> </p><p>Just then, the door which was her goal slammed open. She scooted closer to the furniture and took a look. Another inmate was standing on the doorway, panting in panic.</p><p>"Guys! This is bad!" </p><p>"What?"</p><p>"It's Bane! He finally got a hold of his venom and now he's gone berse-"</p><p>The next thing she knew, he was flying to the other end of the room. Bane walked in, destroying the doorway with his massive figure. As soon as he saw the other men, paralyzed by fear, he dashed towards them and it was then she turned her back on the scene, covering her mouth with her shaky hands. She heard screams and the sound of things crashing and breaking. From the corner of her eyes, she saw a body getting slammed on the wall and falling on the floor, motionless. A chair on fire was knocked towards her pile, slowly setting it on fire, but she didn't dare to move. After a moment, there was no more noises, and that was scarier than anything. All she could hear was the crackling of the fire slowly creeping closer to her and heavy breathing, not from her. She felt her shoulder getting intensely warmer and moved away in panic when she saw the fire. Her other shoulder knocked on the pile and a few of its components fell. She froze in terror when she heard them drop on the floor, making a lot of noise.</p><p>Slow and heavy footstep came closer to her. When they stopped, she looked up without moving her head and her eyes widen when she saw a single hand, bigger than her head, with green tubes going inside his wrist, going over the top of the pile and slowly reaching down. She lowered her head, then her torso. She was so scared she forgot all about the fire. It crept up to his arm, he wasn't even fazed. But when it began to burn the tubes on his arms and one of them even melted a bit, Bane gasped and quickly pulled way.</p><p>"Not as sturdy as they used to be." she heard him say to himself with a thick accent as his voice faded away, along with his footsteps.</p><p>He went to another door, crashing the doorway on his way out. She waited until she couldn't hear him anymore, then she quickly stood up and stepped away from the fire, hitting her shoulder and her back to make sure they didn't burn.</p><p> </p><p>The men were all dead, their corpses now part of the chaotic background, the coast was clear. She let out a heavy sigh.</p><p>This hasn't even been half-an-hour, and she already almost died. She was reminded that right now, it wasn't just insane patients that were running free, but the most dangerous psychopathic criminals of all Gotham. And she was right in the middle of the facility they have now taken over. </p><p>She gave herself little slaps and went for the door. Promising herself to be more careful next time.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0002"><h2>2. Two-face</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>She carefully walked along the wall, stopping and checking every corner. Broken objects, broken walls, broken flickering lights, a real mess that she prayed they won't make her clean. So far, she saw no one (alive that is), which made sense, Bane did come this way. </p><p>'Better hurry though,' she thought. 'who knows when this calm will last.'</p><p>Finally, she saw a broken window. Normally, all windows and doors to the outside were automatically locked during lockdown, but there are a few old-fashioned windows like this one. She stopped and looked out: She was on the third floor. The Asylum's wall surrounding the area was shut off, police cars parked in front of the front gates. Though it was dark outside, she could see a crowd: policemen, security guards, doctors, etc... Nobody did anything, they were waiting in a light panic. She wasn't surprised, but she still let out a sigh. The thought of crying for help did cross her mind, but it'd only give away her position. Even if she just swung her arms at them, they could easily dismiss her, or call her a lost cause, a casualty. She clicked her tongue in anger at the thought.</p><p>She turned around and leaned against the wall, thinking. She's been working here for years now, she came to discover a few secret or forgotten passages throughout the old asylum. But because the place is so massive she could easily get confused with directions. She had a copy of the map on her phone, but they weren't allow to have any distractions on the job, so right now it was in her locker in the employees changing room. Luckily she remembered clearly where it was: it's right by the courtyard next to the green house. She frowned.</p><p>'What does this place has a green house for anyway?!'</p><p> </p><p>She took a deep breath, preparing herself before moving on to a little set of stairs for employees only. On her way there, she froze when she saw a group of inmates coming her way. For a short second, she said to herself that this was the end. But she quickly realized that they weren't paying any attention to her, in fact, they were fighting. Dismissing her last thought, she looked around for somewhere to hide, but there was nothing that could work. And it was a narrower hallway than usual.</p><p>'Shit shit shit shit shit!'</p><p>As a desperate attempt, she rushed to a dark corner of the hallway and curled into a ball. From the corner of her eyes she watched as the inmates came closer and closer, yelling insults and threats that were so gross she wouldn't dare to repeat. They were right beside her now, one of them came this close to kick her, they went passed her and turned around the corner. </p><p>With big eyes, she stared towards the direction they left to. She was baffled that she survived this one. Were they that focused on their fight that they didn't notice her? She stood up and looked down at her janitor uniform to dust it a bit.</p><p>"Oh, right." she nodded.</p><p>Now she was thankful for that ugly baggy jumpsuit, its dark blue helped her blend in the shadows.</p><p> </p><p>Going down the stairs, she'd hear various noises and screams behind the doors, but she didn't stop to listen. It was empty, the inmates would most likely use the elevators or the main stairs. Which is why it puzzled her to see weird messages on the signs with the floors' number. A pattern of lines with a circle at some point. She frowned when she saw it the first time (theorizing that this whole thing might've been an inside job) and stopped when she saw it a second time. Another pattern of different lines, but when the circle was last time, now there was a space. She pondered on the idea of checking the other floors, maybe even try and decipher this message (from what she could tell, if she gathered all the patterns together it'd form a word). But then she shook her head and kept going. This puzzle probably has something to do with the grand plan whoever caused this lockdown has for this place, and she didn't want any part of that. This was a Batman thing to take care of, and her priority was to get the hell out of here.</p><p>Oh cruel hand of fate, as soon as she ended this internal monologue, she arrived on the first floor, she passed by the door when it suddenly broke open. A beefy man has been thrown, breaking it down and landing right on her. Her head violently hit the floor and she already felt her skull swelling. But by pure chance, her head landed right beside one of the steps. If she's been one tiny step more to the right, her skull would've cracked, or worse, the back of her neck. She gasped and coughed, her body being crushed but then she forced herself to stay quiet. Whoever threw him might check on their victim. And she was right to think that. Soon after, she heard two voices approaching and she stopped struggling.</p><p> </p><p>"Is he dead?"</p><p>There was a short pause. She felt the man on top of her moving slightly.</p><p>"Still breathing." the other one said.</p><p>"Well let's bring him in then, c'mon."</p><p>She then felt the weight on her body being lifted. In these short seconds, she realized the man wasn't an inmate, but a security guard, probably one of the unlucky few who couldn't get out in time like her. She closed her eyes and pretended to be unconscious. Someone laughed when the body has been removed and they could now see her.</p><p>"Bro! You got two for one!"</p><p>"If that's not luck I don't know what is!" she was lifted and put on someone's shoulder like a bag of potatoes. "Maybe the boss will promote me when he finds out!"</p><p>With this sentence, she could very well imagine who they were taking them to.</p><p>'Oh fuck.' </p><p> </p><p>She didn't want to risk opening her eyes, so she didn't know where they were going. They took the elevator and walked for a while. As the two inmates were making small talk, with other people joining them, they at some point talked about her. What they said will not be transcribed, but they did joke about how being knocked out made her more attractive. She had to fight the urge to gag in disgust, yell at them or bite this guy's ear. And it didn't help when someone played with her hair and she even felt a hand on her butt. She bit her tongue and endured it, at least they didn't do anything more. Finally she was put down in a sitting position, she felt relieved but it didn't last long, as she was slapped by someone. She immediately opened her eyes wide, a hand on her now red cheek. Crouching in front of her was an inmate, smiling.</p><p>"Oww~ already?"</p><p>She frowned, not liking what he was implying. He stood up and woke up the security guard with a kick. Looking around, there were five people including her, she recognized other security guards of the asylum and they all looked either confused or scared. They were in a big room that has been rearrange into an arena, with people standing on top of platforms on the circular three-meters tall wall, cheering. She couldn't even recognize the room anymore.</p><p>'Jesus do these guys work fast when it come to build these things.' </p><p>She stayed still, not wanting to draw attention on herself. But when her colleagues stood up and started to gather together, she joined them and stood behind them.</p><p>"Welcome, to the arena of judgement." a booming voice made them look up.</p><p> </p><p>On a platform that was extending to hang above the arena a little bit, Two-face walked up to the edge with his arms open, still wearing his inmate jumpsuit. The crowd applauded his entrance. The sight of his disfigured face wasn't new to her, but it was still shocking everytime. He had a gun in his hand, a few of his men too, they must've took it from the guards. He looked down at them and continued, while she tried to position herself so that the guards would hide her from him.</p><p>"You are all part of a deeply corrupted system, and were unlucky enough to be stuck here. - By all means we should've let you die and rot!" his voice became raspier and deeper, but then he cleared his throat. "But, I didn't think it would be fair, you're here because of this stupid 'five minutes' rule after all, you're also victims of the system to some level. So, we have come to an agreement." she figured he was referring to him and himself when he said 'we'. "Give you all a fair trial, but - Where the hell did you hide the coin you filthy pigs?!" her and her group flinched at his sudden outburst. "Well whatever, 'cause now we get to do something much more interesting! Fight yourselves and the winner gets to live! What better trial than this?!"</p><p>She gulped as the crowd cheered. Glancing at her group, she was disturbed to see the determined look on their face. One of them cracked his knuckles. </p><p>"Let the trial begin." he said in his other voice.</p><p>A punch was landed, a kick, a tackle. She stepped back and kept going until she bumped the wall. Panicked, she couldn't think of any way to get out of this alive. How was she supposed to fight these guys?! She could hide until this was all over but the people who brought her here won't just forget about her, even though right now everybody was more focused on the fights. She held her temples, trying to think as she watched. Even if she did hide and waited for the last one standing to be exhausted, she probably still wouldn't win, they're trained and she had the most average of strength.</p><p>One of them has been taken out, being thrown away by the largest one, he'll probably win. She noticed this was his signature move. It gave her an idea. She chewed on her lip, it could fail, but she had to risk it. It won't make her win this "trial", but at least it'd buy her some time.</p><p> </p><p>Following the guy's movements, she moved along the wall. Another one has been taken out, this time by a more agile man who choked him until he was unconscious (or she hoped he was unconscious). The largest one started to wrestle the third one, she picked up the pace. After knocking some teeth out, he lifted him up and threw him to the wall. She stopped, shielded her head and he landed right on her. Actually, she was a bit to the right, so it was his legs which hit her, and although it did hurt like hell, she overplayed the pain and fell on the floor along with the poor man. She heard laughter in the audience, mocking her for her terrible luck or for being stupid enough to get herself slammed like that. Good, she convinced them, now all she had to do was wait.</p><p>She allowed herself to open her eyes a little bit so she could look at the scene. The last two standing were fighting, not holding anything back, but there seemed to be no clear winner here. As the fight started to drag on, the crowd pressing them to finish this, she glanced up at Two-face. He lightly shook his head before talked to one of his goons, who then nodded and threw his gun in the middle of the arena. A way to get this to an end, she thought, whoever takes it wins for sure. The agile one dashed towards the weapon with a head-start, he won. But right after that Two-face threw his own gun towards the other guy.</p><p>"No!" he shouted to himself.</p><p>But it was too late, at the same time, the two guards grabbed their gun, turned around and shot each-other. One to the neck, the other to the side of the skull. The audience boomed with cheer as the two bodies fell limp on the floor. She felt herself getting paler and she forgot to breathe for a moment.</p><p> </p><p>"What have you done?!" Two-face said to himself. "Well Dent, it wouldn't have been a fair trial if only one of them had a gun now would it? - I, you... But now we have no winner! How is this fair?! - Fairness is when people get the same amount. Besides, they had it coming. - What are you talking about? - Think about it: if they both had a gun, surely one of them would've pointed it at us right? - ... - I told you they were all rotten to the bone." he chuckled. "Goes to show that it's not guns who kill people, it's people with guns."</p><p>"Boss look!" the guy he previously talked to pointed down at the arena.</p><p>He turned to see a woman clumsily stand up then walked to face him. Oh yeah, there was also a woman here, he forgot about her.</p><p> </p><p>'It's not broken, I think...' she thought, a hand on her ribcage.</p><p>She stopped and looked up at him, though not directly into his eyes, in case he'd take it as disrespectful. For a moment, he didn't say anything, and she started to feel a knot in her stomach.</p><p>"You're not a security guard." he finally said.</p><p>"...I'm just the janitor."</p><p>Her words were repeated by the crowd, followed by chuckles.</p><p>"Were you pretending to pass out? That's cheating!" his other side growled. "You didn't even participate in the fight, coward!"</p><p>"Maybe, but with my physique, we can all agree it wouldn't have been fair." she opened her arms a little bit. "And..." she hesitated to keep going, but he didn't seem to mind her pleading her case. "if you're all about luck: I got caught on accident, that much is true. But also, it happened in a staircase. I got knocked over and was *this* close to break my neck and die. If that's not luck, I don't know what it is."</p><p>"Ha! Without proof, anything you say can easily just be lies for all we know!"</p><p>"Then, how about we play a game that'd be fair for bo-um..." she pursued her lips and glanced down for a moment before looking back at him. "For all of us?"</p><p>"And what is this game you propose?" he asked, switching again.</p><p>She gulped and slowly raised her fist.</p><p>"Rock-paper-scissors."</p><p> </p><p>Laughter resonated through the room. She expected to be mocked, but she forced herself to keep her gaze on Two-face, the only one who wasn't laughing. He didn't seem convinced.</p><p>"You can't cheat at rock-paper-scissors," she shrugged, ignoring the knot in her stomach tightening. "it's also based on luck." </p><p>He narrowed his eyes. She figured there was a chance that he knew this wasn't true, but even if that was the case, he didn't know that she knew as well.</p><p>"But it does give you more chances to lose." </p><p>"To you too." she briefly pointed at him. "So..."</p><p>He let out a little 'heh', then jumped down before walking up to her. With his imposing presence, she instinctively took a step back. Glancing behind him, she sad his man checking their gun's bullets before looking at her with a sneering grin. She gulped again, her heart beating like a drum as her breath became a bit deeper, cold sweat on forehead. They raised their fist, hers shaking, the crowd counted for them. This whole process felt so slow.</p><p>"Rock paper scissors shoo!"</p><p>She chose rock. He chose scissors. An 'oh' of disbelief resonated and even she was shocked, though she tried not to show it. She didn't dare to look up at him, scared he might get mad, and she was ready to run away. But Two-face lowered his hand and sighed.</p><p>"Well, you won fair and square." she looked up at him when he said that. "Let her out."</p><p> </p><p>Her eyes widen. The double doors slowly opened with loud metal creaking. She looked back at Two-face, hesitant, but then he gestured her to go ahead.</p><p>"Th-thank you." she quietly said with a quick nod before power-walking her way out.</p><p>"And do be careful around staircases next time!" she heard the other him said, making his men laugh.</p><p>She left the room, passing by them and ignoring their taunts and farewells. She kept walking until she was sure there was no one around. Then she stopped, stood still for a few seconds, before pressing her back against the wall.</p><p>"Did that really just happen?" she grumbled to herself, rubbing her face with her hands. "Did I really just bet my life on fuckin' rock-paper-scissors?"</p><p>'I still can't believe it worked!'</p><p>Indeed, you can cheat at this game, you just have to be sneaky about it. When she pointed at him, she let her middle finger hang down, and so her hand made a scissor shape. She did it quickly so she wasn't sure if Two-face would process it, or if he'd see through her. But, he did underestimate her, and she knew this would be her biggest advantage if such an encounter happens again. Hopefully though, next time she won't have to risk her life in such a stupid way.</p><p>"When in Rome I guess..." she whispered before moving on.</p><p> </p><p>"She went that way, come on!"</p><p>Her heart sunk like a rock in a river when she recognized the voices of men from the arena. Looked like 'the winner gets to live' in Two-face's language means that you get a head start.</p><p>She started running.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>Two-face says ACAB</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0003"><h2>3. Harley Quinn</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Because she closed her eyes on her way to Two-face's arena, it was difficult for her to tell if she's been taken farther or closer to her objective, and she was in a whole other part of the asylum. The inmates' makeover didn't help either, the whole place was unrecognizable. But she didn't really thought about that, at this moment she was too busy running for her life.</p><p>She didn't look back but she could hear the men steadily getting closer as they ran after her. She'd take whatever was within her reach (potted plant, fire extinguisher, chair, etc) and blindly throw it behind her. One out of three times she would hit one of them and when that happened she'd get a short second of relief before panic overcame her once again. She kept expecting to be shot in the back but she didn't. Maybe they didn't have guns? She didn't want to find out. They've been calling out for her ever since they spotted her:</p><p>"Oh you're fast aren't ya?!"</p><p>"Come on, we won't kill you!"</p><p>"You'll exhaust yourself sooner or later!"</p><p>"I mean, I'm not complainin'! Love watchin' them go!"</p><p>"Stop running already ya bitch!"</p><p>Something flew passed her and landed on the floor ahead of her. As a loud 'you fuckin' idiot!' resonated, she noticed it was a knife and she accidentally kicked it away as she kept running, not thinking about what she would've done if it had landed in her back. Had she grabbed it, it could have been useful in the future, but to stop and waste precious seconds would certainly mean death. She didn't know where she was going, it was just one sharp turn around the corner, sprint as fast as she could, then another sharp turn, again and again, but she didn't care as long as she kept away for these guys. The adrenaline rush helped her ignore her burning lungs and legs, but hearing her heartbeat and uneven breath ringing in her ears was getting overwhelming.</p><p>Up ahead was an inmate who's been stacking up chairs on top of one another to make a tall tower, and was now looking at his work as if this was God himself. She disregarded his behavior as just some crazy person shenanigans and as she passed by the tower she kicked its foundation so that it'd fall onto her pursuers. The inmate screamed in panic, talking about how everyone was doomed, and the men following her yelled out swears. She didn't look back and turned around the corner, her foot slipping a bit.</p><p>Her eyes widen when she recognized this hallway. The vent grid here was easily removable, it was high, but within her reach. Of course, she could be mistaking, but she took this gamble. She ran towards the grid, grabbed it with her hands on opposite sides and with one pull it was off the wall as if it's been stuck on there with tape. Her frantic move made her stumble back a little bit. Knowing she had little time to act, she quickly crawled inside the vent and went further and further. Once at an intersection, she glanced behind her. She didn't put the grid back, they may have figure out she was here. She listened closely, readying herself to keep going as fast as she could.</p><p>"That fuckin' bitch I'll fuckin' kill her!" she felt a shiver as she heard them, some were still laughing.</p><p>Their voices grew louder and louder, then they became fainter and fainter. She shut her eyes closed and let out a long sigh, pressing her forehead on the back of her hands. A moment passed during which she relished on this weight being lifted off her, breathing deeply to calm her heart. When she finally lifted her head, she contemplated on the idea of staying here until everything worked out. But then cussed to herself when she figured that, with the vent grid gone, it was only a matter of time before some crazy person crawl in as well. Besides, she recalled that some vents could access outside. Of course she didn't explored the asylum's venting system while she was on the job, she only cleaned the grids so the vents here are filthy (she was having a first-hand experience and could confirm that). But because she was usually bored on the job, she followed the vents throughout the asylum and figured its system (the part she could see at least)  and noted them on her phone. Of course, with an intersection in front of her, she didn't know which way would lead her outside, but if she was lucky, she won't even need her phone. Taking a deep breath, she tried to remember her notes and picked a direction.</p><p> </p><p>It was dark and there was no other grid so far, she must be inside the walls. She quietly clicked her tongue, wondering where she'll end up. </p><p>She decided to keep going forward, thinking that once she got somewhere she'll decide if she turned back or not. She nodded to herself at that decision and suddenly she gasped. The vent was going down at this point and so she began falling while still in the darkness. After a couple of seconds of shock during which she turned to face upwards, she pressed her back and her feet on opposite sides and her fall slowly stopped with a loud piercing noise. She stayed motionless for a moment to catch her breath, it was then she noticed the light below her. She glanced down and saw the vent's grid not far from where she was. She could feel herself slowly slipping down but she didn't try to stop it, it's not like she could go back up anyway.</p><p>When she was close enough, she looked through the grid, it was quiet and she didn't see anyone. She gulped, hoping it was safe, and kicked the grid off, it opened sideways. Waiting a few seconds just to be sure, she then let her legs hang down while grabbing the grid. Thankfully, she wasn't that high off the ground and after praising herself she let go and landed in a sloppy crouching position. She mumbled an 'ouch', looking at her feet before standing up and looking around.</p><p>She was in an empty room, but she couldn't tell which part of the building she ended up in. Still she kept moving, staying still was a bad idea with all those people running around, especially if you're being chased. She went through rooms and hallways, sneaking passed whoever was in there. She was starting to get the hang of this. At that thought, she nodded to herself in a moment of self-validation.</p><p> </p><p>Finally, she entered a hallway of cells. Her eyes widen slightly, now she could tell where she was: the cells were on the second floor, on the other side of the building were the main stairs, but the stairs for the employees should be closer. All she had to do was make her way through the cells. Well, technically they're called rooms, Arkham is an asylum on paper, but everybody knew this place has always been more of a prison.</p><p>First there was the level one protection cells, a metal door with automatic locks. All the doors were open, someone must've flipped the switch which opened them all at the same time. </p><p>'I know it's for emergencies like fires, but geez did they have to make it so easily accessible?'</p><p>The hallway was empty. It made sense: if you were suddenly free, you would stay as far away from your cell as possible. It made her a bit more at ease, even though she knew this wouldn't last long.</p><p>Turning around a corner, now the cells were of level two protection, it's easy to get out of these if someone from the outside breaks the plexiglass wall with a big objet. There were still some inmates locked up. One was curled up in a corner, mumbling nonsense, another was staring at nothing, and this one was yelling at her while punching the glass, she avoided eye contact and picked up the pace.</p><p>Turning around another corner, she was now on the level three protection cells. Those were for the kind of people that only Batman could deal with. Bulletproof double glazing walls, with only a bed and a small table, there the inmates were allowed only one harmless personal item. Now they were all empty. She stopped, hearing banging in the distance. At first she thought it was from the guy from before who yelled at her, but now that she walked away from him, she heard it ahead of her too.</p><p>Ahead of her were the level four cells, a resent installment. So far there was only one person there. Her blood went cold as she reminded herself who it was. They actually created the level four specifically for him, he kept breaking out by himself. </p><p> </p><p>"Uuurgh come on!!!" she flinched when she heard a woman shouting in rage.</p><p>She carefully walked forward, pressing her back on the wall and peeked around the corner. At the end of the hallway, Harley Quinn was there along with a few of her goons. There were all in their clown uniform, which meant that they were probably the ones who initially broke into the asylum and released everyone. But it seemed that this new level of security wasn't part of their plan.</p><p>"You stupid cell! Let my puddin' out!!!" she yelled as she smashed her mallet on the glass over and over, she looked at her goons. "What are y'all standin' around for?!"</p><p>They quickly joined her to try and break it down, but it was no use. Seeing Quinzel like this, she really wanted to feel bad for her. She remembered when she was a doctor at Arkham a year or so ago, she was one of the few that weren't assholes. She was nice, but she was too trusting, and that's what ultimately allowed the Joker to wrap her around his little finger. Although she wasn't completely to blame for becoming a criminal...</p><p>'With some of the stunts she pulled on her own, calling her a crazy bitch would be understandable.' she sighed through her nose and looked away.</p><p>She whispered 'fuck' when she saw the door she needed to go through in order to go back to the stairs for employees. It's been busted open, which was good, she wouldn't have to waste time opening it. The problem was - she looked back at the clown gang - even if Quinzel and the others were preoccupied at the moment, the Joker will spot her for sure. The solution would be to wait until they break him out and hide if they pass by her, but will they even be able to do that? She frowned, until they find a solution, she was stuck.</p><p> </p><p>"Where is Big Joe?!" Quinn yelled at one of the men.</p><p>"H-he might still be looking for the secret bomb closer!"</p><p>"God you can't trust him to do anything! I cannot believe ya numbskulls used all the C4! We could've just break down the front door!"</p><p>"You told us to us-" she didn't let him finish his sentence and swung her mallet, hitting him on the arm.</p><p>He screamed in pain and fell down, holding his probably broken limb. Quinn ignored him and turned towards the cell.</p><p>"So sorry about 'em Puddin'~." she said in a softer voice caressing the glass wall. "I'll get ya out, promise!"</p><p>"I'm sure you will Harl." he casually said. "But hurry up now, we don't have all night."</p><p>"Of course Mistah J of course!" she said before going back to yelling at her goons.</p><p>Meanwhile, a spark of curiosity formed in the back of her head. Whatever their plan was at the moment, right now they were stuck, and there was very little chance this 'Big Joe' will be able to find the secret bomb closet. So she wondered, what does THE Joker look like when he's stuck? Does he become as desperate as Quinn? Does he try to hide his panic? Does he panic at all? As she asked herself those questions, she unknowingly leaned over ever so slightly so she could see him.</p><p>Here he was, wearing the inmates' uniform, in his empty cell with only a bed. He was standing in the middle, upright with his hands behind his back, yet he looked as relaxed as ever, with his signature smile on his face, as if being stuck was part of his plan. He ignored Quinn's rage and began humming a tune. She would see him daily, his playful behavior never seem to change, even in a time like this. She didn't know what to think of it. He gaze wandered around, and their eyes met.</p><p>It was just for a split second, she gasped and instantly turned around and ran, but then she bumped into a really tall and large man with clown makeup. </p><p>"Yo what the hell?!" he lifted her up by the collar, chocking her as he went up to his group. </p><p> </p><p>She coughed, wriggling her legs above the ground and grabbing her collar to try and release her neck if only for a little bit. Joker cackled loudly as he watched.</p><p>"Guys!"</p><p>"Big Joe! What took ya so long?!" Quinn yelled at him. "Tell me ya have the C4!"</p><p>"I-I couldn't find it-But look!" he threw her down on the floor. "That girl was spying on us!" </p><p>She coughed some more, rubbing her neck, but then turned towards Quinn who walked up to her with a groan.</p><p>"Good, I need to let off some steam." she said as she lifted her mallet in the air.</p><p>"No! Wait! Waiwaiwaiwaiwait!" she crawled away until her back was pressed on the wall, her whole being shaking. "Th-The-The password there's a password I know the password!"</p><p>Quinn stopped, her eyes narrowed.</p><p>"Mistah J never told me about a password."</p><p>"I-It's hidden." she managed to explain with a little voice. "And he gets knocked out by the...gas or something - and then he's brought out. They don't want him to know it's there." she looked at him, hoping he'd provide some kind of confirmation.</p><p> </p><p>Quinn also looked back at him. He didn't say anything, but his smile grew larger. She hummed and looked back at her.</p><p>"Go on then doll." she said, putting her weapon down and taking a step to the side.</p><p>By the look on her face, she wasn't trusting her. Still shaking, the Janitor slowly stood up, her hands on the wall for support. She glanced at the clowns before looking away. She began to pace around the hallway with small steps, inspecting the floor. She wanted to go as slow as possible so that she could enjoy her last moments, but she didn't want them to get impatient either. She would briefly glance at them from time to time. Although she didn't want to make eye contact, not seeing what they were doing made her uneasy.</p><p>Finally, she stopped. On the floor near the wall was a secret button, it was the same color as the tiles and the light here was dim, so it would've been hard to spot it. She pressed it with her foot and after a few seconds a panel on the wall opened nearby. She nervously looked at Quinn, who gestured her to go ahead with a sharp nod. She went up to the number pad and put in the password. Before she pressed enter, she read it to make sure she put the right code in. What if she remembered wrong? Shaking her head slightly, but feeling her chest getting tighter, she moved her finger.</p><p>"Hurry up already!" Quinn exclaimed.</p><p>'Eight! Not nine!' her subconscious suddenly said.</p><p>Re-reading it one more time, she could feel the doubtful thoughts getting louder in her head and the pressing voice of Quinn didn't help. She pressed enter.</p><p> </p><p>The little screen turned red and a loud beep rang.</p><p>"Fuck!" she said, startled.</p><p>"What the hell doll?! You tryin' to mess with us?!" she menacingly stomped towards her.</p><p>"Nononono! Wait I'm sorry I still have one more try!" she quickly changed the nine to an eight and pressed enter again.</p><p>The little screen turned green, and the cell's glass wall lifted up the ceiling. She let out a long sigh and allowed herself to drop down, panting a bit. The Joker casually walked out, taking a deep breath.</p><p>"Puddin'~!"</p><p>Quinn dropped her mallet and rushed towards her man to hug him tightly, rubbing her cheek on his chest. He chuckled and when she let go of him he pinched her cheek like a grandma would do to a child before they both turned towards her. She gulped, feeling a cold sweat on her forehead as she looked back and forth between the two clowns. </p><p>"Well thank you doll!" Quinn said as she readied her mallet. "As a reward, I'll end it quickly for ya!"</p><p>"Now hold on Harley." without looking away, Joker raised his hand, stopping her before leaning forward. "Are you new? I've never seen you before."</p><p>Actually, there have been a few times when they crossed paths in the hallways before, or were in the same room, although he was always surrounded by guards. Like everybody else, he never noticed her. It actually eased her to see that he wasn't any different from the others when it came to the little workers. She hesitated before speaking in a little voice.</p><p>"I'm the janitor." </p><p>She didn't answer his question, but he didn't care that much about how many years she's been here.</p><p>"Ooo~ I see!" his smile widen as he leaned closer. "So you know all the passwords of the asylum then?"</p><p>She did, kinda. It was mostly the security guards who'd open the doors for her, and in case they were busy, she noted them on her phone. But she knew that if she said that, they'd kill her and just get her phone. But given that she'd see those passwords everyday, she could remember them if she thought hard enough. She slowly nodded.</p><p>"Almost all of them."</p><p>"Almost?"</p><p>Her heart dropped. She said it without thinking. Cursing to herself, and given who she was talking to, she quickly said:</p><p>"I don't know the password to the warden's secret sex torture dungeon."</p><p>The Joker burst out laughing. She quietly sighed of relief. With his sense of humor, she was ready to dig up all of the edgy joke she'd tell back in high-school.</p><p> </p><p>"Marvelous!" he grabbed her by the arm, forcing her up, then wrapped his arm tightly around her shoulder, preventing her from walking away. "You can be my little master key!"</p><p>'Oh no. Nonononononono-' she pursued her lips, biting the inside of her cheek and trying not to show any reaction.</p><p>"Huh?!" Quinn looked shocked. "M-Mistah J, are you sure?"</p><p>"Of course!" he turned around, his arm still holding her and so she was pulled with a light 'oof'. "It's not like that worthless Big Joe will ever find the secret bomb closet. With a master key like her, all of Arkham will be open to us." he tried to suppress a laugh. "Well, almost all of it." he giggled. </p><p>'-nonononono please no not this!' she glanced at him.</p><p>"But...Letting the cleaning lady in on our plan?!" Quinn pointed at her. "What tells us she won't do anything stupid!"</p><p>"Harl~?" he leaned forward, his voice deeper and more threatening. "Are you questioning my decision-making skills?"</p><p>She instinctively took a step back and shook her head.</p><p> </p><p>"Good girl!" he walked away, smiling at the Janitor, still by his side. "Come on fellas, we are behind schedule because of your incompetence!" he said, still with a friendly tone.</p><p>She whimpered on the inside, the door she planned on going through getting farther away with each step.</p><p>"Now," he said. "I have plans for this place you see, but I'll need some things first. But those things are all locked up you see. And I need you" he booped her nose at 'you'. "to unlocked them up." he paused again and tilted his head. "Why so tense dear?"</p><p>She looked away. Of course, she can make sure no expression could be read on her face, but she couldn't control her body from shaking in fear.</p><p>"I...I'm just nervous."</p><p>Joker's grin widen, his eyes narrowed.</p><p>"Aw~ there's no need to be, you'll do great!" he lightly hit her arm. "Besides, if you make any mistake, I won't even give you time to be embarrassed about it."</p><p>A chill ran down her spine. She knew he wasn't stupid, despite being a clown, he knew she was afraid for her life and only wanted to get away from him. The fact that he was playing along with her made her feel even more uneasy. She was walking on thin ice right now.</p><p>Her, the Joker and his crew walked through the hallways. She could feel Harley Quinn's stare burning a hole behind her skull. Inmates would make way as soon as they saw him, before loud and chaotic, they now squared up like soldiers or cowered in fear. Some of the crazier ones would however run towards them to try and gauge their throats out or something along those lines, but they'd easily be disposed of by Joker's men, and he'd just laugh as he walked passed their broken body while she tried not to witness any of this violence.</p><p>Now, some may think that this situation wasn't all that bad. Since no one is more powerful than the Joker, staying by his side would be the safest bet to stay alive, at least until Batman shows up. But she was very well aware of the fact that this was the <em>Joker</em>. Anywhere else is safer than with him. Which brought her to the matter at hands: How in the hell will she get away from him? You see, other crazy criminals and super villains were fairly easy to get a grip of. For example: Two-Face was obsessed with luck, it then made sense to her to bet her life on a game of "luck". But the Joker? No one knew what was going on in his head. The only man who understood how he worked, to an extent, was Batman. And, well, he's not here right now. Now she really was stuck.</p><p> </p><p>They stopped in front of a large vault. There are quite a few vaults in Arkham Asylum, so she wasn't sure which one this was. There was a panel on the side of the door, Joker finally let go of her and extended an arm towards it, leaning over ever so slightly. She swallowed a lump in her throat then walked slowly towards it. She stood there in silence. If she didn't know which vault this was (because of course there was no label!) how was she supposed to know the password to open it?!</p><p>"Take your time~." she heard Joker said, pressing her despite his words.</p><p>She chewed on her lower lip and tried to picture the building's layout. They were still on the second floor, with the main stairs on the opposite side of the asylum as the cells, and the fact that they walked through the left wing, the possible vaults there were down to two, and those were pretty close to each-other. But then she remembered that, when the last crazy guy attacked them, they turned to the right, away from the first vault which is on the far left right on the sunniest side of the place. So this one is...</p><p>'Seriously?' she frowned and put in the password, her finger shaking.</p><p>With Joker's words clouding her mind, she re-read the code three times and hesitated when her index was right above the enter button. She shut her eyes closed and pressed it. She heard a little 'ding' and the vault opened by itself. She let out a long sigh as head dropped down as well as her shoulders. She took a step to the side to give way to Joker, who laughed and entered the room with big happy steps.</p><p> </p><p>Her and the others stayed here and waited for him. She just looked down, avoiding any interactions with anyone and trying to not get any attention to herself. Sadly, Quinn has had her eyes on her from the very beginning.</p><p>"Hey doll," she walked up to her, she didn't look happy. "I don't know who you think you are, but don't get too comfy when standin' beside Mistah J."</p><p>She blinked twice, confused.</p><p>"Huh?"</p><p>"Don't act dumb," she pressed her finger on her chest. "I know girls like you, thinkin' they're the bee's knees."</p><p>'I don't even know what that means!'</p><p>"And I know it's only a matter of time before you think you're special to him but let me tell ya something sweetie." she leaned closer. "He already has a special someone. Me. So don't try anythin' or it won't end well, ya hear?"</p><p>She remembered when Quinn was going bonkers on the cell's glass wall and when she was ready to bash her head in, her stomach twisted. But then she noticed how she said 'girls like you' and not 'people like you, that was when it clicked. If there was one thing she knew for sure about the Joker, is that Harley Quinn was obsessed with him. So maybe she could use that. It was really risky, but she was willing to try. She gulped and nodded.</p><p>"Good." she stepped back, then her expression completely changed. "Mistah J~! Looking as sharp as a knife like always!"</p><p> </p><p>She turned over to see Joker stepping out of the cloakroom (where they put all the villains' costumes), wearing his signature purple suit and did a few pose to show it off. As Quinn was giggling and cheering him on, the Janitor praised herself for what she was about to do. She smiled.</p><p>"Wow, yeah it really suits you like a glove-oh." she pointed at him. "<em>Suits</em> you?"</p><p>"Oooohohoho!" he pointed back at her before laughing. "Our friend has a funny bone! Say," he pointed behind him with his thumb. "wouldn't you like a new wardrobe yourself? You can pick whichever one you like."</p><p>"Oh, no thank you. I uh," she tugged on her jumpsuit. "I have my own signature look. G-gotta keep up the brand y'know?" she was unsure if she wanted to keep talking to further justify her refusal, which is why she stuttered a bit, and she mentally cursed to herself for it.</p><p>"Of course of course, I respect that." thankfully Joker didn't notice, at least she thought. "Come on fellas, unto the next door!" he lead the way, pointing forward.</p><p>She made sure to stay close to him, as in this moment he was the one thing standing between her and death. And as she glanced behind her, it only confirmed it: Harley was fuming, her left eyelid twitching. She faced forwards again. To be perfectly honest, she wasn't sure of the outcome of her plan, but from what she could tell, there was hope.</p><p> </p><p>On their way to the second vault, Joker kept making jokes that, she supposed, could've been funny if they weren't about actual murders and tragedies. Thankfully she learned how to believably laugh on command over the years of sexist and racist "jokes" from her superiors.</p><p>"Finally <em>someone</em> in this place with a sense of humor!" he smacked her shoulder. "Where have you been all my incarceration?!"</p><p>She just chuckled, not sure what to answer.</p><p>"Oh please!" the two of them looked back at Harley. "She keeps laughing, but can <em>she</em> tell a joke?"</p><p>Everyone stopped and looked at her, she gulped.</p><p>"Um... What's the difference between a bullet and a policeman?" she paused, quickly glancing at the Joker. "When a bullet kills someone, it's fired."</p><p>He burst out laughing, even the henchmen giggled.</p><p>"It's funny because it's true!" he exclaimed before he kept walking.</p><p>She looked over at Harley, and shrugged, smiling, before following him. She heard a groan of rage behind her. She was pushing her buttons, and she had to keep pushing, even though she really doesn't like it. When that volcano explodes, she'll have to be ready or she'll die. </p><p> </p><p>As Joker kept making jokes and bits, she'd play along every time and laugh with him. She was scared he'd start asking questions so she'd always ask for another joke, or tell one herself. At some point she hunched over as she was laughing and briefly put her hand on his forearm. She glanced behind her, Harley looked ready to kill.</p><p>"Mistah J, can I break her leg?" </p><p>She froze, her heart stopping for a second, and looked at Joker. </p><p>"I-If I can't walk properly, you'd have to drag me, it'd be bothering."</p><p>"Then I'll break ya arm," she said, like she thought of every alternative possible. "and you can just tell us the passwords."</p><p>Her eyes widen, she couldn't find anything to say back. The two women stared at each-other like predator and prey.</p><p>"Now now now," Joker waved his hand. "Harl, why would you do such a thing in the first place? To a friend!" with furrowed eyebrows, he put his hands on her shoulders, making her flinched and leaned his head on her shoulder since he was beside her.</p><p>"Because she's all over ya! Can't ya see that?!" </p><p>"Oh my dear," he let go of her and stood in front of Quinn. "although I understand I am very charming, we were simply joking around." he leaned closer. "Don't you like jokes Dr. Quinzel?" and spoke with that slow menacing tone again.</p><p>Her body tensed up and she looked down. His back was turned so the Janitor couldn't see his face, but given hers, she didn't think she even wanted to see it.</p><p>"Jealousy isn't a cute look." he finally said before turning back around. "Now where was I?" he continued walking and everyone followed him. "Right! And so I said 'no, this is your wife'!"</p><p>They all laughed, the Janitor fighting the urge to gag in disgust and horror. She hoped that his interference didn't calm Quinn down. While she thought of a way to push her again, they've arrive to the next vault. <br/><br/></p><p>Since the last one was the cloakroom, and they were still on the left wing of the building, then this one mist be where all the guns are. Because there were no labels, she wondered how the hell Joker knew what was in each of them, but she knew she'd never get answers and she didn't care that much. He knew because he's the Joker. She didn't wait for him to give her the go and went to the number pad, knowing she'd get points for taking initiative.</p><p>She unlocked the vault and the door opened by itself.</p><p>"Thank you dear." Joker nodded as he walked passed her.</p><p>This time, the others went in as well, Harley waited for her to go first so she could keep an eye on her. Understanding what she was doing, the Janitor walked in. Weapons upon weapons displayed on the walls for the taking, tall storage shelves with knives and grenades of all size and shape.</p><p>"Not C4, but this will do just fine!" Joker picked up a handful and attached them to his belt as his henchmen filled up bags of them. "For now. Can you believe you can get those for a hundred bucks?" he asked no one in particular as he grabbed a small gun. "A small price to pay for 'anything you want'." he giggled and put it in his pocket.</p><p>While he was running around like a child in a toy store, she looked at the various guns on the wall. There were some that were missing from their spot, so someone (or some people) took them then closed the vault again. Maybe people who didn't manage to escape? And now that she thought about it: what was the point of having this many weapons if the first course of action for emergencies was to escape and lock down the place?</p><p>'Arkham Asylum: everyone's nuts.'</p><p>"Don't you even think about it."</p><p>She turned towards Quinn, who was still staring at her.</p><p>"I don't even know how to use a gun." she shrugged.</p><p>"God I hate girls like you."</p><p>She wanted to not say anything, avoid eye contact and move on. Instead she forced herself to look into her eyes, and to smile with a raised eyebrow.</p><p>"Are you jealous?"</p><p>"I'm preventive." she walked up to her. "I know you're trying to replace me but you're only an hour in the business hun. Stop tryin' to butt in my man's space or I swear..." she lifted up her mallet.</p><p>'I know she's smarter than that. Love really is blinding.'</p><p>She raised her hands and, though she was ready to beg for mercy, she played it cool.</p><p>"Okay okay, got it. Got the message."</p><p>With narrowed eyes, she slowly stepped back. With a sigh, the Janitor decided to head back to Joker, Quinn following her. She was on the edge, now was time for the final blow. A few words she knew would amply suffice.</p><p> </p><p>When she saw Joker, she thought that maybe doing this in a room full of weapons wasn't the best idea. Plus the very thought of saying those words was enough to make her stomach twist. But, the sooner the better. She smiled.</p><p>"Hi-ya Mistah J."</p><p>"Oh that is it!!!"</p><p>She quickly turned around and dodged Quinn's mallet as she violently swung it sideways, targeting her head. Instead it whacked one of the henchmen, who stumbled and hit one the the storage shelves, making them all drop with a domino effect. Joker swiftly avoided them but Big Joe wasn't so lucky. Quinn swung again, hitting a wall and destroying a bunch of guns in the process. </p><p>"Quinzel may you please control that damn temper of yours?!" Joker locked her into a nelson hold while another henchman tried to grab her legs.</p><p>She just kicked the henchman in the jaw, ignoring everything around her.</p><p>"I'll kill her ya hear!" she repeated. "I'll fuckin' kill her!"</p><p>In this chaotic situation, the Janitor took this opportunity and ran away as fast as she could. And she didn't stop until Quinn's voice faded away for good.</p>
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<a name="section0004"><h2>4. Poison Ivy</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>When she finally stopped she leaned against a wall, panting but forcing her mouth to stay closed in case someone could hear her. She stayed like this for a while. Aside from her own breathing, the hallway was quiet and empty, and it only made her even more uneasy. At least when inmates were screaming and running around, she could tell where they were. Up ahead she saw a window and walked up to it. Looking out, she was relieved to see the greenhouse in the distance, she did went down some stairs while running away from Quinn. The greenhouse looked strangely untouched, she would've expected it to be covered by vines long ago, not that she was complaining of course. She tried to open the window but it was locked. She bit her lip, breaking it open would attract attention for sure, and she did not want to waste a potential moment of peace. If she circled the courtyard, she should eventually get to the employees' locker room. The courtyard was big, it'll be a long detour. She took a deep breath through her nose and walked onward.</p><p> </p><p>A few times she had to hide from passing inmates, some running around, some just stood there and she had to sneak past them. Walking carefully along the wall, she stopped at an intersection and bent over just a bit to look around the corner before she could go on. There was no one there, but just as she walked across she heard someone coming closer, running. She spotted a large potted plant and ran to hide behind it. A few tense seconds later, a man came running and also hid behind the plant, almost crashing into her, he yelped while she inaudibly gasped. Before she could even let the fact that she's been found sink in, along with the dreadful horror that would've come with it, the man pointed a gun at her guts. She quickly brought her knees close to her with her hands pressed on the floor behind her.</p><p>"Shut up sh-shut up, shut up." he whispered sharply, clearly agitated.</p><p>She kept staring at it with big eyes, it was shaking under his grip. The man looked towards the direction he came from, soon heavy footsteps could be heard.</p><p>"Sh-shit." he pushed her aside, taking her spot, and hunched over but still pointing the gun at her. </p><p>Her eyes widen, luckily, there was still some space available, so she curled up into a ball, hoping with all her heart that her dark blue jumpsuit would help her blend in the shadows once more. The footsteps came closer and closer, soon the little light that the neon lamps on the ceiling brought was blocked by a large mass. She looked up without moving her head and her heart sunk when she saw none other than Bane. She stopped moving, breathing as slowly as possible to a point when even she couldn't hear it, her heart though wouldn't stop pounding. She watched as he slowly walked closer to them, each step he took made her feel a bit closer to death. Then he slowly walked passed them and down the corridor, his footsteps could be heard in the distance. She frowned slightly. Even if she managed to blend in the shadows, it's not like she became one with it, and she was certain they down right faced each-other at some point, yet Bane didn't notice her. Or maybe he did, and he just ignored her. When silence settled, the man let out a frustrated sigh, snapping her out of her thoughts. They looked at each-other.</p><p>"You stay quiet, you shut up, you say anything I put a bullet in you alright?"</p><p>She immediately nodded. He sighed again, hanging his head down and taking a moment to catch his breath. She took this opportunity to get a good look at him, and her eyebrows twitched downward in surprise. He wasn't an inmate, he wasn't a security guard either, but a doctor of all things. That alone was strange, they were supposed to be the most likely to get out of the asylum in time before the lockdown. But this one could've just been in the same situation as she was where he was far away from any exit. Except that wouldn't make sense, because this wasn't just any doctor, this was Dr. Haufmann. His rich family was long time friends with the Arkham family so they had a history of working in the asylum, whether they were qualified for the job or not. Haufmann was one of the most privileged employees here, and an asshole who always acted like he owned the place. So, even if he couldn't make it out in time, surely he would've used his connections to make the people outside open the doors for him. So why didn't he? He clearly wants to get out of here as much as she does. Does he not want them to know he's here? Or would they say no if he asked them to get him out? But why wouldn't they? Did he do something the higher ups didn't like...or wouldn't like?</p><p>She didn't know, and frankly she didn't care that much. At this moment, she was mostly focused on the gun he was pointing at her. It didn't look like it belonged to a security guard, looked too normal. She heard rumors that some doctors carried actual weapons with them. At first she wasn't sure how to feel about this, even if they were for self-defense. Well right now she made up her mind: it sucked.</p><p> </p><p>"Fuck. Fuck fuck." his mumbling stopped her train of thoughts, he gripped his hair. "I-I gotta get out of here, they can't find me here." he looked up at her and raised the gun to her head with both his hands. "You. You know a way out of here? And don't say the front door." he pressed that last sentence.</p><p>She nodded without hesitation.</p><p>"Okay." he stood up. "Where is it?"</p><p>She pursued her lips and turned her head towards the direction Bane left. He followed her gaze. A moment passed.</p><p>"You gotta be shitting me." he grabbed her by the collar and made her stand up. "I am not dying in this hell hole, and I am not dying out there either! Where's the exit?!"</p><p>"It is over there I-I swear! I-It's one of those secret exits!" she fumbled in her words, her eyes shifting back and forth between him and the gun.</p><p>She lied, like with the Joker, she didn't want to risk talking about the map on her phone, in case he'd kill her as soon as he knew. Although he was a doctor here, he wasn't looking like the most reasonable guy ever right now. He narrowed his eyes.</p><p>"I heard about that secret stuff." he mumbled, his gaze wandering.</p><p>He thought for a moment, seemingly getting more and more frustrated by the second. Finally, he clicked his tongue</p><p>"God fucking dammit." he said under his breath before pushing her with him down the hallway. "You're coming, if you set us up I'm making sure you die first."</p><p>She swallowed a lump in her throat, he had a lump in his throat too but he spit it out into the potted plant. </p><p>'Gross.' she face twisted slightly in disgust, wondering why people do this.</p><p> </p><p>They walked to the same direction Bane went, Dr. Haufmann still gripping onto her arm. Though they were being careful, it was clear he wanted to move as quickly as possible. A short while later they could hear the same heavy footsteps in the distance and they could make out his silhouette in the darkness ahead. They stopped and walked closer to the wall. She looked at Haufmann and whispered as quietly as she could.</p><p>"Move along with his steps."</p><p>Indeed, Bane's were loud and echoed through the hallway, so even if they stumbled or accidentally kicked a pebble they might not catch his attention. He didn't nod nor say anything, but he still went with her advice. As if he refused to give her any sort of validation. She tried not to roll her eyes but still glanced to the side. </p><p>The two of them were faster than Bane, slowly but surely they approached him. They could now clearly see his back, tubes with a bright green liquid inside going from the compartment on his back to all four of his limbs. He seemed to be going steadily, still going the same route they had to go. Sometimes he'd stop for a moment, during which they'd hide in a hurry. He'd take a look around, then he'd keep walking. At some point she glanced out the window towards the greenhouse, will they really have to go around the entire courtyard like this? She was patient enough for that, but the same couldn't be said for Haufmann.</p><p> </p><p>"Ayo Bane! You fuckin' asshole!" </p><p>She suddenly looked forward. In front of Bane was standing an inmate, he looked bumped. Bane said something but with his mask on plus his thick accent, it was hard to make out what he was saying, something to do with someone he was looking for. And giving his uninterested reaction, this guy wasn't it. She discreetly glanced at Haufmann but didn't say anything.</p><p>"We got some unfinished business now don't we?!" the inmate exclaimed. "Imma kick your motherfuckin' ass and make you my bitc-!" </p><p>Bane picked him up with one hand, and with the other he held him up above him head and broke his back with a clean and loud cracking sound following by an earsplitting scream of pain. Bane then tossed him behind him without looking back before walking away. He landed right beside Haufmann. Her and him stared at the corpse for a moment, shocked.</p><p>"Aaarh... fu...fuck dude." </p><p>Her heart dropped. He wasn't dead, his back was broken and he couldn't move from the neck down but he was still alive. His head slowly rolled towards them as he kept mumbling in pain. She saw Haufmann raising his gun and she quickly grabbed his shoulder, making him glance back at her, clearly angry.</p><p>"Too loud." she whispered and nodded towards Bane's direction.</p><p>His expression fell, understanding what she meant. Just then, the inmate has stopped his mumbling and was now staring at them. Haufmann looked back at him as he took a deep breath, ready to shout at the top of his lungs. Overwhelmed panic, the spurt of the moment, pure instinct, whatever it was, the next second the doctor had his hands tightly pressed around the inmate's neck, hunched over, putting all his weight into it. Haufmann was heavily breathing through his teeth, staring into the inmate's wide eyes as he quietly gagged, his skin going from red to blue, the hands around his neck kept pressing. </p><p>Eventually, the inmate's eyes rolled back into his skull, he stopped gagging and wriggling his head. Haufmann kept going for a moment just to make sure before letting go of his neck, leaving red marks around it which will soon turn blue. He let out a long shaky sigh and stood up in a hurry. She was still paralyzed by shock. She was horrified but at the same time, and she hated to admit it, it was either him or them, right?</p><p>"Come on." Haufmann grabbed her arm and forced her up, dragging her with him to keep going.</p><p>'No, wrong.' she frowned. 'It was either him or him.'</p><p> </p><p> </p><p>They caught up to Bane, his pace steady and slow. There were a few time when he stopped to look around and they had to hide, thankfully he would keep going forward each time. She glanced at the window again: they've gone around half the courtyard, they must be close. Unfortunately, she noticed that the doctor was getting more and more impatient, his hands haven't stopped shaking ever since he murdered the inmate. At some point, he gritted his teeth.</p><p>"Fuck it." he whispered to himself and pointed the gun towards Bane's head.</p><p>Her eyes widen, as much as she'd rather take the longer but safer route, she knew she couldn't stop him. </p><p>"Aim for the tubes." she whispered.</p><p>"Yeah. I know. Shut up." he whispered back, yet he moved his aim to be just a tad lower.</p><p>His eyes narrowed as he tried to steady his hands. She kept looking back and forth between him and Bane, chewing her bottom lip. After a moment that felt way longer than it was, he shot, the sound ringing in her ears. The tubes, though eye-catching, were rather thin. He missed and hit him on the back on the shoulder. And if a single gun could take down a supervillain wrestler, life would be all the more easier. The bullet did get under his skin, but he reacted as if someone tapped his shoulder with their index to get his attention. He turned around and next thing they knew, he had ripped the white neon lights off the ceiling and thew them towards them.</p><p>"Sh-Shit!" Haufmann crouched down to dodge as she ran to the side.</p><p>She pressed her back against the wall as the lights crashed into pieces on the floor. At this point, if she was correct, then she might want to create as much distance as possible between her and the doctor. Bane shouted:</p><p>"Haufmann!" followed his something incoherent (he had his mask on, must've taken it from the cloakroom), but anyone could tell he was angry. </p><p>He ran towards him, completely ignoring her. As she suspected: he had a specific target and she was an afterthought. She noticed the doctor looking at her, as if expecting her to take the opportunity of being disregarded to help him out, maybe attack Bane by surprise or rip off one of his tubes. And she did take advantage of her situation, by safely running past Bane and further down the corridor.</p><p>"Oh you fucking bitch!!!" she heard Haufmann shouting, along with gunshots.</p><p>Not knowing whether he was aiming at her or at Bane, she protected her head and hunched over, but still she kept running. Finally, she reached a double door and opened it.</p><p> </p><p>"Fuck." she said to herself.</p><p>The door led to outside, an empty, open space. Strangely quiet. Staying out for too long was a bad idea and she was pondering over going back inside but then she recognized the door leading to the employees' locker room not too far from where she was. She just had to be careful not to get too close to the greenhouse. Yeah it looked empty, but you never know.</p><p>Before she could even take a step, a window broke from the inside, Dr. Haufmann just jumped out, rolled over a bit before clumsily standing up. His arm was broken and blood was dripping down his forehead. However he managed to survive, it was clear he was left hanging by a thread. His will to survive and escape must've driven him past all the pain. He noticed her and, to her horror, he still had his gun, which he was now pointing at her again.</p><p>"You..." he slowly said, his voice full of venom before rushing towards her. "You backstabbing bitch!" </p><p>He pressed the tip on her forehead. She wanted to talk but her voice was caught in her throat as she stared at him with big eyes, her blood ran cold and her body shaking slightly.</p><p>"I am sick and tired of people thinking they can play me!" he pressed the hammer with his thumb. "Now you-" </p><p>He was cut off by the sound of a plane engine, it sounded almost dangerously close. The two of them looked up and saw a black jet, tinier than most but faster, fly by. Once above the asylum, the shadow of a man dropped down from the jet and onto the rook of the building. He had a cape, but even without it, they'd still recognize him right away. Batman didn't waste any time and broke a window to then get inside. She wanted to feel relieved that he was now here in the asylum, but her current situation wasn't really allowing her to.</p><p>"Fuck. Fuck fuck fuck. No no no no, why."</p><p>Haufmann took a step back, he looked even more panicked than when he was being hunted by Bane. It only lasted a moment however, he stood behind her and pressed the gun on her back, forcing her to walk forward.</p><p>"I gotta - I gotta hide. Soon as he find out he'll be after me too."</p><p>There was no point in trying to reason with him, or even ask what the hell he was talking about. He was overcome by panic. And even though she doubted that he had any more bullets left, the tip of the barrel warm on her back, she didn't want to risk it. If he didn't push her, she wasn't sure if she could move on her own. He quickly led her to the greenhouse, the first hiding spot he saw. As they walked closer, she noticed potted plants placed on both sides of the door. She recognized one of them. More specifically: she recognized the spit on one of the leaves.</p><p>'Oh fuck.' her heart dropped as they walked in.</p><p> </p><p>There were no lamps, but the moonlight was enough to distinguish their surroundings. Before the alarm went off, she has passed by the greenhouse, and so she noticed how everything looked exactly as she left it. Was her hunch wrong? Nevertheless, Haufmann kept dragging her to a corner. He pushed her one last time, making her sit down on the floor. She pressed her back against the wall and watched as he started to pace around in circles. Mumbling to himself about what his next move should be.</p><p>"I should've grabbed the documents, I should've grabbed them!" he gripped his hair as he started to ventilate. "I'm such a fuckin' idiot, idiot!" he hit himself on the head. "Well now I-I-I can't just hide, he'll-they'll find me..." he tapped his mouth with shaky fingers. </p><p>Just then, from out of the shadows, a vine slowly crept up behind him. A chill ran down her spine, but she didn't say anything nor did she move.</p><p>"What if I...What if I just kill him? Right he's just a guy after all, he doesn't even carry guns. Right, right." he huffed a chuckle, but it was clear he was forcing it. "Maybe they'll all be scared of me after that. Too scared to do anything. Right, righ-"</p><p>By that point, the vine has grabbed his ankle and yanked him back in the shadows. He shouted but his screams were almost immediately muffled. Left alone, she didn't dare to move just yet. Her legs were still shaking.</p><p>"Well well well~." a voice as sweet as honey was heard. </p><p>Sitting on a giant man-eating flower like a throne and surrounded by vines, Poison Ivy approached her with a satisfied smile. Above her was Dr. Haufmann, almost mummified by vines, only his eyes full of horror could be seen. He was struggling a lot, and by the sound of his muffled screams, he seemed to be in pain.</p><p> </p><p>"I suppose I should thank you for leading this vile man here." Poison Ivy chuckled. </p><p>"..." she gulped and spoke in a hushed voice. "I didn't do anything." </p><p>"That's not what this little one told me." she gestured towards the potted plant from outside, which was now only a meters away from her.</p><p>How?</p><p>"Well whatever," she continued. "saves me the trouble of finding him before anyone else." she paused and looked at her up and down. "Nervous? Don't be."</p><p>She made one of the vines wrapped itself around her waist to make her stand on her feet.</p><p>"I'm letting you go."</p><p>She blinked twice, confused.</p><p>"Why?" she asked, getting her voice back.</p><p>"Because not only did you get me this," she gestured towards the man. "but I also heard that, unlike all the other scumbags here, you actually use clean water to water the plants. And I respect that." she turned away. "You can go now. Unless you wanna watch?" she glanced back at her with a smirk.</p><p>She carefully stepped back. Poison Ivy chuckled and turned away again.And with that, she ran out of the greenhouse.</p><p>Although she did wonder what the whole deal was with Haufmann, if he has involved himself with Poison Ivy, Bane, and probably more, to the point where they're all out to get him, to the point where he was actually considering killing Batman (or at least trying to) once he finds out what he did, then she didn't really wanna find out for herself.</p>
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